[kabar]

"If the goal was just to kill these guys, there were opportunities where we could have shot them," the senior official said. "This was not the outcome we wanted. We wanted those three guys to give themselves up."

The money quote. Obama was trying to limit the use of force with his ROEs. And he had to expand the order after Philips tried to escape. I am sure now that the last thing Obama wanted was for the "pirates" to be killed. He was treating this all along as a domestic hostage taking incident rather than a violation of international law. We have the right to use lethal force against pirates. No need for an ROE.

[swarthyguy]

>>He was treating this all along as a domestic hostage taking incident

Yes, sending the FBI indicated that. it was dismaying at the time, but may have been a delaying tactic...at least it turned out that way.

However, let’s be optimistic and .assume. the guys on the ground (water) always knew that they might have to use force before the pirates tried to beach their craft.